Customer Xperience Today @ ICICI Bank

Today @  ICICI Bank.

I sent my daughter to get pay order which she required for her college admission. She was carrying duly signed cheque. Today was the only day for her admission and timing was limited. Amount was Rs.385/- only.

Now at bank I am classified as Preferred Customer. Therefore they have a special section and they attend to preferred clients with more attention and care. (They should that is what I expected)

They gave requisition slip to fill to her which required signature of account holder. Since I was not there my daughter called me and told me that pls come as yr signature is a MUST. I was bit upset so I talked to the concerned officer and requested that this is the first time I am hearing this that its a MUST on requisition slip. However since I can not come & I will come during the day & sign the slip , you pls process the request. I also confirmed & informed that she is my daughter & she requires pay order for her college admission. However she refused to process the request unless its signed by me. My daughter met the branch manager , she was busy and confirmed that its a MUST & we cant help it.

Leaving all my work aside I had to rush to the bank and complied with the requirement. 

Couldn't this have been handled in a better way in any other bank?? Relationship banking I enjoy with other banks , they even clear the cheque unsigned or with some correction on the promise that I will come and sign as required , later.

Look at the amount, purpose and my authorisation and promise to comply over phone, however nothing worked. 

This is not process centric banking but total customer apathy and we care less approach. Is it no employee empowerment or no sense of banking judgment??. & I am classified as Preferred Customer!!! (Oh ,my god, what must be the plight of no so preferred customer!!!))

The same bank on TV commercials wishes the customer who has come to open account on his birthday with a CAKE. Total disconnect between branding and customer experience in reality!!!! 

Branding sans Customer Experience !!! Ad agencies and Brand Consultants are not the BRAND builders its customer experience that builds brands !!!Still they spend millions on BRAND and nothing on CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.  (Even basic,  forget wowing!!!)

Who U R defines What U do!!!

Company Board is Responsible to the Share Holders. Rest all are responsible to the CUSTOMERS.However internal focus of the company and designations in vogue is making life complicated and working in silos a norm. If the tone at the top is CUSTOMER and it percolates down suitably at all levels , it can change the meaning for the PEOPLE in the company especially in big positions.  I have attempted to change the status quo just by changing the meaning of the designations by making it end result centric.

Here I go .........

1) Chief Executive Officer  -  Chief Customer Experience Officer

2) Chief Operation Officer - Chief Delivery Officer

3) Chief HR/People Officer- Chief Happiness Officer

4) Chief Marketing Officer - Chief Brand Officer

5) Chief Sales Officer -  Chief Fulfillment Officer

6) Chief Technology Officer - Chief Enabling Officer

7) Chief Public Relation Officer - Chief Image Officer

8) Chief Knowledge Officer - Chief Intelligence Officer

9) Chief Product Officer - Chief Customer Officer

10) Chief Procurement Officer - Chief Quality Officer

11) Chief Finance Officer - Chief Profit Officer

12) Chief Internal Auditor - Chief Sustenance Officer

13) Chief Compliance Officer  - Chief Governance Officer

14) Chief Belief Officer (Future Group does have one) - Chief Culture Officer

15) Chief Strategy Officer - Chief Competitive Officer

16) Chief Innovation Officer - Chief Future Officer

Even if they start looking at their designations, mind set will start transform-ing. 

Readers may add many more CXOs and suggest even appropriate names to the one given above. Let the winds of change take over our enterprises.

New Start Up & Six Qualities of Start Up Entrepreneurs - Reallife Xperience

Recently I become a part of team www.kredence.com . Though was always a part of Team Ketan Raiyani formally or informally. 

About Ketan, and his entrepreneurial dream, I must say (1) passion, (2) dream & (3) risk taking ability coupled with (4) fund raising capacity are the few of the  foremost qualities one (Start up entrepreneurs)  must have.  Dream of achieving something unthinkable, unbelieveable. Many people get (final) kick when someone challenges  them, Ketan is one of them. ("U cant do" so i will do). I have also seen that as an entrepreneurs one must be able to (5) take timely judgement when to withdraw when someting is not working.

With him , I was a co founder of taxsmile.com & other ventures thereafter . Many a times we had contarion views on some matters & also had unpleasant arguments. However test of the true entrepreneur is his (6) ability to  keep people around him who can challenge his thinking (Not only YES men).  All these arguments always lead us to objectivity in the situation and refinement of thoughts.  Many may not be aware that start up goes back to drawing board N number of times before their endeavour touches the market.

One suggestion: Go for something outstanding and unprecedented in the world. Be known for SOMETHING or ANYTHING even if that means lower profit.Make FANS not only customers.

Its a game of high passion and  patience !!!

Its not FACTs but E-FACT that matters

In Mumbai Suburban Railway some times people having ticket of 2nd class travels by 1st class. In similar one such instance a commuter appears to be of  2nd class commuter was boarding the train. While he was boarding 1st class compartment cpl of commuters informed that this is first class compartment so don't board.  He didn't pay heed and entered the compartment.  Then one of the commuters told him that if the ticket checker comes and he is found with 2nd class ticket he will be fined Rs.500/-. Immediately without thinking for a second he got down of the compartment. 

Fact : 1st Class Compartment E-Fact (effect): Rs.500/- penalty

Yes stating fact is just a statistics. 

Toothpaste with Salt or Clove or LED TV or 200 CC Bike or Al Queda is a Terrorist organisation - but so what? How does it matters to me??

Mere statistics may not move people to take action. If you wants action,  talk abt the impact of the facts or non action on the person. Communication be it advertising or marketing or any such personal persuasion should have this in it to be E-Fact-ive !!!

6 Ways Individuals Can leverage Social Media (professionally)

1) Have Blog  - Share yr thoughts on the subject of yr expertise or work place experience/stories.(Half of the net users read some or the other blogs atleast monthly) (This blog got readers from more than 25 countries in less than 6 months)

2) Have Blog - Writing for Blog will make U a good observer and thinker. This way U will be a better person over all.(Extra Advantages - language & writing skills improvements)

3) Have Face Book Page -  This will help U connect with yr friends and family members.  Share yr online knowledge or gain from their knowledge. Its knowledge distribution everywhere. Either gain or share. Its win win.  (1 out of every 8 Minutes online is spent on FB)

a) Have Linked In Profile - This is a must. Most (Well many and many more to catch up) employers are now hiring after viewing profile here. One can do own branding here. Write & Get Recommendations. Its abt BRAND U.

b) Have Twitter Profile -   Here follow some of yr role models and someone u want to get in touch with. Reply their interesting twits and get noticed. This was not possible at all otherwise.( 90 mn  twits per day )

c) Post Reviews & Comments - Post product and services reviews you have experienced.  Its a gre8 utility in the world bombarded by push advertising. (78% net users do their product research online, 24% of adults have posted comments and reviews online)

Next time why businesses MUST use social media to get more business and enhance customer experience. See u Soon.

How to WOW !!!

Inviting tips , ideas & stories for my book How to Wow !!!!. 

Its abt wowing yr audience as an individual or as a company. Tips, real life stories and more such stories r welcome. 

Participants will receive free ecopy with due credit if story find place in the book. 

5 ways to Rejuvenate Your Brand ( U and Brand U represent )

Past Experience sometimes is the biggest hurdle. It CONDITIONS our mind. Previous patterns determine our future actions. Life is an explorations and conditioned mind cant explore but just follow the trend. This applies to individuals and enterprises equally.

Therefore to unCONDITION our mind we need to be alert of our thoughts & actions.  Out of the Box or Lateral Thinking is all about this. Everyone be it individual or company becomes prisoner of this "following the pattern" habit. This is how we become stale after sometime.

Challenge is to get out of this and rejuvenate our thoughts on an ongoing basis:

5) Do something non routine daily.(take new route to office or home, buy  non regular magazine, go to movie with not so good review, watch channel not viewed regularly, offer peak season discount on products and services, pay yr supplier early and thank them for the support, celebrate achievement of family members of employees,  ask back office team to front end the customers,  respond to call center queries in 48 minutes instead of 48 hours, offer no question asked goods return for a day, call customer after a day of his purchase to know whether he is happy with product or service

4) Challenge Obvious Idea / Action / Interpretation. (Get feedback from suppliers, service providers, go to different restaurant, take no reason leave from the job and be with the family, have without appointments day for all patients,  go and play cricket with children on Sunday,   )

3) Think , apply your mind and look at the things in different perspective.(Talk to grieving customers or employees by calling him and giving full attention to know his perspectives)

2) For the sake of change do something differently. (Offer Lassi or lemon juice in place of routine Tea/Coffee to your customers /employees)

1) Check Business Processes more often for better customer experiences. Its a dynamic world, processes must be reviewed to achieve speed & convenience to customers.(Remove or merge processes, add delight factor in the process)

Many more such actions can be taken up routinely to un( Condition + Routine ) our mind. Daily Targets ,Quarterly Results and Annual Bonus will make it difficult to think anything other than routine but believe me thinking unroutine will improve all the three targets.

This is BRANDing in ACTION. Atrophy (Regular CONDITIONed) or Rejuvenate (Regular UNCONDITIONing). Choice of actions r clear. 

Six Questions to Awaken CUSTOMER within

As a part of my selection of case studies on customer experience & social media I request CEOs and Business Owners (or for that matter anyone interested) to share their views on following six AWAKENERs:

6) How often CUSTOMER xperience & feedback are on yr internal meeting agenda? 

Always, Sometime, seldom , never

5) Do U have someone fully end to end in charge of Customer Experience?

4) Do U believe that customer delight is core and critical to retain yr brand's competitive advantage? 

1) Do U believe in " Advertising & Marketing Messages need to line up with customer's real experiences. So first & foremost  U have to get customer xperience right. "

2) Do U have Social Media Strategy? If yes what is the core purpose? 

3) What are yr immediate plan to indulge on social media to enhance customer xperience & acquisition? & to enhance Health of the brand U represent?

  

Social Media & Customer De-light ( P-light )

"Focus of most marketing spend is usually around new customer acquisition and that only 20% of marketing budgets are typically spent on retention. Yet, in many cases, 75% of revenues comes from existing customers." (Book : Flip to Funnel)

Wow! Customer Xperience is NOW more relevant in times of powerful Social Media. Words Spreads with electrifying speed and across d globe - Good or Bad. 

Channel your marketing budget to existing customers. Wow !! them , delight them, offer them memorable experience, offer them something to speak (write) abt on social media online and offline. 

Every wants to share their experiences. Social Media is providing them many such platforms.Are we providing them enough (any) food for thought abt what to write/share with their friends, followers and group members ??? If we are not , customers have their own opinions. They will share.

Every customer is also a publisher. (FB, Tweet, U Tube , LinkedIn , Blog) Any clue what to do to get ur offerings published?

(Next coming up with my ebook on hOw to wOw!!!!)

U are not DEAD , but are U Dying in EMI !!! Wake up and Wake yr Boss up

People are dying from job related stress. Actually dying or moving fast towards death 

with diseases like stress related diabetes, cardiac problem, high blood pressure etc. 

(DEAD: Raghu Pillai of Future grp, R Ravimohan of Reliance, ex CRISIL, Ranjan Das of SAP, Dewang Mehta - NASSCOM are the known examples & DYING : Most of us)

Unfortunately the pace at which economy (due to technology) wants us to react is so fast that human species will take time to adjust. Like the versions of the IT products we also need advance versions of  people who can take on the technology and can react and move at speed of thought. I am not talking abt development of technology but the speed at which things in the world happens due to sophistication of technology is the KILLER.

Technology is just a one part, problem with CAPITALIST society is that Capital is d only measurement of success.All our measurements of success surrounds CAPITAL. ROI, IRR, EBIDTA, EPS, ROCE, PBT , EVA and that's it. Failure or success is defined by these figures. PERIOD.   

  

Which company actually measures stress or happiness of the employees , suppliers (Quick deliveries and delayed payment) & customers on an on going basis and actually work towards improving the happiness and lowering the stress? No Annual Reports talks about people's happiness or customers happiness due to the existence of the enterprise.  People talks about triple bottom line (one each for Shareholders, Society and Environment).We have regulator like SEBI and minister like Jairam Ramesh so two of the three are looked after to some extent (environment reporting is negligible).  Society incl people (HR) and customer influenced by the Enterprise is invariably ignored. 

Companies in the US like Zapoos is one of the very few who has taken up HAPPINESS as an objective of their existence and they are working on delivering happiness not just to their customers but to people across the globe. 

Unless the focus changes things will not change. Unless  we care abt the people more than the shareholders  things will not change. Unless our annual reports are driven by people, customers and society at large than by Companies Act things will not change. Which company will wake up first??  Infosys did it once on governance and reporting transparency.  
Who will take the lead this time? Are we not extremely conditioned!!!